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Friday, 14 November 2014

KIAMBU POLICE OFFICER RAPES WOMAN WHO WENT TO REPORT SHE HAD BEEN ASSAULTED, HER BABY DIES

A
28-year-old mother of two has endured a triple tragedy — assault by a neighbor,
imprisonment and rape by a Kikuyu station police officer and the mysterious
death of her three-month-old son.

The
woman, a single mother, said she fears for her life and that of her
three-year-old son and 12-year-old brother with whom she lives. She said police
did not record the multiple rapes committed on Wednesday morning in the
Occurrence Book, and the rapist knows where she lives.

This
is how the horrors unfolded, according to the woman.

Last
month she was assaulted by her neighbor in Gitaru, Kwa Njamba village.

On
Tuesday this week at 9am she arrived at the Kikuyu police station to get a P3
medical form to detail the assault. She rushed because she left her baby Louise
Ngumbau unattended and wanted to return soon.

“Initially
when I reported the matter to the police, they demanded a witness. I told them
she was held up and was willing to come once she is available,” she said..When
she went for the P3, the police officer handling her case told her to wait for
him in the waiting area until 2pm. He said he first had to handle an emergency.

At
2pm the officer told her to follow him to his house in the police line “where
he claimed he kept the P3 forms”. The police station and lines are in the same
compound.

He
locked her inside his house, which she could not escape, and left.

At
1am on Wednesday, he returned and raped her repeatedly.

“He
undressed me, raped me three times and threatened me, saying if I argue, resist
or expose him, I would know he is a police officer,” the woman said.

At
6am Wednesday morning, she was able to leave his house and returned to check on
her son and brother.

“I
was shocked to find neighbours milling around my house, only to find my baby
dead in my house.”

The
circumstances of the death are unclear, she said.

She
reported the death of her baby and her imprisonment and rape at the Kikuyu
police station, but her rape report was not entered in the Occurrence Book, she
said.

The
woman said she does not understand why the OCS directed the officer who raped
her to take Ngumbau’s body to St Teresa’s mortuary in Kikuyu, using a private
car.

She
has appealed to the Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo to intervene.

Kikuyu
OCPD Mutune Maweu said he had “no idea” about the matter but said he was aware
of the rape allegations.

“I
overheard it but it has not officially been brought to my attention. I will get
back to you,” he said yesterday.

A
senior police officer in the IG’s office, who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the subject, he was “disgusted” to learn of the
imprisonment and rape.

“Kindly
let the world know what that lady underwent at a police station (compound),” he
said.

It
was unclear why the police at Kikuyu police station appeared unwilling to
pursue the matter, although the woman informed the OCS.

“The
OCS kicked me out of his office while locking himself inside,” she said.

She
said she had never met the police officer who raped her before she went to
report the assault that occurred last month.

“I
met him for the first time when I went to report my assault. He was the one
handling my case,” she said

The
woman was taken to Nairobi Women’s Hospital, Ngong Road branch, for treatment
yesterday. She was seen by a counsellor who gave her name only as Sylvia. She
said she did not know when the woman could be discharged.

“We
will first counsel her and the rest will follow,” she said.

The
woman expressed concern that her three-year-old son and her 12-year-old brother
will be left alone and uncared for while she is in hospital.

She
said she herself is an orphan and does not know any relatives who can help her.

“My
mother had not introduced me to my relatives before she died,” said the woman,
who grew up in Nairobi.

Contacted,
the alleged rapist police officer hung up his phone when a reporter identified
himself.